Sensing liquids' temperature

Hi Indel,

I can only vouch for the beer as I don't drink carbonated water from the fridge and don't do spirits either.

Could the difference in packaging have anything to do with it? I don't really think so but I also find it an interesting mystery. The beer always make me go "ooohh yer f#@ker" if it hits that rotten spot on the wrong tooth.

I can only suggest it has to do the way the liquid conducts the cold. Beer is mostly water so it should be the same a the bottled water I would have thought.

In my case it could be the desperation that goes with drinking that first beer every day but I am a self confessed alcoholic .

I think you may notice a difference if you were drinking the plum brandy in the same volumetric quantities as the beer - but then again, maybe you wouldn't, if you get my drift ?

As for the difference between carbonated water & beer @ 4°C - I'd choke on ¼floz of the former, but could manage a gulp or two of the latter (tho' I wouldn't go for Miller (or any other fizz) myself, cold or otherwise; I prefer real ale, served at about 12°C).

I can't explain the difference between the fizzy water and the fizzy beer - then again, there isn't much !.

Hello indel,

Interesting stuff, but ya know humans really can't sense temperature well. If you were to run very hot about 150° water or about 32.5° water and pass your hand under either you couldn't tell if were hot or cold.

You can't tell if 150° water running over your hand is hot? You can't tell if 32.5° water running over your hand is cold?

Or do you mean something else. Even if I convert it to/from Farenheit or Celsius, I still can't imagine you not feeling it.

Get over it this is a fact.

Can't get over it.

While I agree that the human skin is a poor sensor when it comes to temperature, I still can't believe you won't be able to feel the difference.

Interesting stuff, but ya know humans really can't sense temperature well. If you were to run very hot about 150° water or about 32.5° water and pass your hand under either you couldn't tell if were hot or cold.

Last time I checked, 150 degree F water is considered too hot for output of a water heater, due to chance of scalding. And I damn sure can tell that 32.5 F water will chill my hand (though I couldn't tell you whether the temperature was 32.5 or 50 F, only that it was cooling my hand quickly). On the other hand (): I discovered more than 30 years ago that there IS a water temperature that humans can tell fairly accurately: what we commonly call "lukewarm" is going to be in the low 80's, say 81 to 84 F. Try it.

Even earlier, I was taught a trick for toasting bread over a campfire: where you can hold your hand for about 10 seconds before it gets too uncomfortable is the right spot. That is air temperature and radiation combined. I've been told that this is about 140 F, but have never measured it.

I agree that most people can easily distinguish between hot and cold liquids when sensed individually. But perhaps bwire meant to say that a person would have more difficulty distinguishing between hot and cold simultaneously. You may have heard of the demonstration in which a person simultaneously has one hand in cold water and the other hand in hot water. The contradictory signals confuse the brain -- maybe even to the point that the person has trouble identifying which hand is hot or cold. I have never tried this experiment, but I've seen it mentioned several times over the years, so I would guess that it has at least some basis in truth. But 150°F (66°C) sounds a bit too hot for comfort and safety, so I would suggest using ice-cold water and hot water at about 130-140°F (54-60°C).

Wow Lleros, great answer -- clear, detailed, and reasonable. Sounds like you have a good grasp of the relevant science, and practical experience too.

It may all be habit- once I start drinking beer every day at 12 noon as the Sol shines over the yardarm- I don't want to stop till my body says "enuff!!"- many hours later- this encompasses all types of beer- commercial on tap, commercial bottled or canned, home brew in bottled or CO2 pressured kegs- all types of beer & even dark fermented grape juice, not to forget home brew apple cider- all these taste better at a lower temp ie 2-4deg C- guess I am just an alky(sob!)- never mind- won,t be able to drink or do anything in the grave where we all go(hopefully later than sooner)- cheers(glug, glug, BURP).

Hi indel,

If you drink Millers beer, you would dink anything. Many years ago they had a brewery in Melbourne and I think they had another in Sydney, I must admit after doing many "brewery runs" in Australia and overseas it was the first time that I actually went through a brewery. It probably wouldn't matter how cold the beer was.

I must admit it was quite interesting, but it didn't do anything for the taste, I also must admit that it was 100% better than Tiger beer. I would imagine it to be worse than camel urine, not that I have tasted it!!!!!

Allow me to summarize and draw a little conclusion:

Case491 - hints (by contrast with his confession) that I am an alcoholic in denial.

JohnDG - I am too drunk to feel any difference

Bwire - more diplomat, blames on the human beings being insensitive.

Vulcan - doubts the limits for insensitivity set by bwire. Open controversy.

LlerosMarharg - hints that the froth at my mouth could be even from beer (no epilepsy history, for me).

NeilKwyrer - not decided, yet, about the brand to analyse. Still testing.

MOBI - gives me a chance as not being as low as possible. Miller is above Tiger (it seems that he never tried the WORST beer in the world, the Russian Baltika!).

That doesn't clarify, for me, the fact that -25°C and +4°C "taste" almost the same, but I found some very interesting things about myself (similar to what a friend told me: Only idiots are drinking Baltika beer).

Thank you and, because of the incertitude still there, I will continue my experiments (and, consistency being a requirement of the scientific experiments, I'll keep drinking Miller Light).

Stick with the champagne of beers...see how you are.